Lofgren, who has just released the digital retrospective called "Bonus Tracks," was happy to get back into the studio with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in November 2019.
The five days in Springsteen's Colts Neck home studio produced the hit album "Letter to You" and the film "Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You," directed by Thom Zimny.
"That was an extraordinary kind of blessing for all of us," Lofgren said. "(Springsteen) was not sure he could write, channel those kinds of rock songs anymore. I'm not burdened by being Bruce and all the goes with his immense talent but I always thought when he suggested that he couldn't write those kind of rock songs anymore privately on a tour ... I would be like to myself, 'That's one thing he's wrong about. He'll always be able to write those songs.' "
"When he told Martin Scorsese in an interview (at a Netflix event in May 2019) that he just wrote a batch of songs for the E Street Band, we were all thrilled and hoped that it would lead to what it did," Lofgren said. "That week in New Jersey recording, it was getting cold. The plan was let's get together, we'll record for about a week and then I'll (Springsteen) work with the songs. Maybe well get back together in two or three months, do another round. He kept postponing the next round — we all went home. Finally he said, 'Guys, I think we got an album here. I don't think we need to go back at it.'
"Of course when you're that prolific — he probably has 10, 15 albums in the can and hundreds of unreleased songs — I was really grateful that he stayed focused to complete the record of the week and recognize it for the special thing it was."
More: Nils Lofgren talks 'Bonus Tracks,' Neil Young, Keith Richards and Rolling Stones near miss
The album's release with an accompanying film instead of a tour was a needed rock 'n' roll balm for fans in the middle of the pandemic.
"Everyone was relieved that the protocols were so intense to protect everybody," Lofgren said. "One day I put my mask and gloves on and walked in the street (in New York City) in the middle of the pandemic. It was spooky stuff. (Yet) it was a great healing week for all of us to get together and play and be a band."
"My gut tells me it was a set-up and a vendetta, maybe by a police officer who has maybe a different political point of view," Lofgren said. "Bruce was under the legal limit anyway, and it seems like that all finally came out and he got let off."
Jessica Springsteen vying for Olympic equestrian team
‘SNL’ Roasts Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama’s Podcast | Rare
Last Saturday, Carey Mulligan hosted the late-night NBC show with rapper Kid Cudi performing as the musical guest. But it was a bit during the Weekend Update that really went trending on social media: Beck Bennett and Chris Redd appear as Bruce Springsteen and former President Barack Obama , respectively, to plug their Spotify podcast and “riff” for Michael Che. The result is hilariously awkward.
On Renegades , the deep friendship between these public figures is clear. Though it might come as a surprise to many fans, the New Jersey rock star and the D.C. politician actually go way back. They first met on the campaign trail in 2008, during Barack Obama's initial bid for the White House. Bruce Springsteen, who is always politically active, stumped for the rising Democratic star. And that's not the only origin story revealed on Renegades: Born in the USA. As Springsteen and Obama reflect candidly on their "parallel journeys" of success, many new fascinating details emerge about each of these major celebs.
Between Beck Bennet’s bulging forehead and Chris Redd’s stumbling speech, SNL really teased the surprising duo of Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama. And while I understand, Michael Che’s reservations about the pair’s comedic ability, Obama and Springsteen are right here when they say a podcast is “just two guys talking.” It works. Even if they can’t string a few one-liners together. Plus, the dad joke about Obama’s daughters not texting him back was top-notch.
Watch Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant nearly break in this funny sketch about nerdy boys trying to interact with girls.
In this rap parody video starring Pete Davidson, Chris Reddd, and Kid Cudi, a whole cast of kooky characters pops up to jam on their “weird little flutes,” including — randomly — Timothée Chalamet.
The story behind Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The U.S.A.'
Bruce Springsteen's 1984 masterpiece, Born In The U.S.A. , cemented his status as a true American hero. From the title track to the patriotic cover, everything about the album made Springsteen seem like the ultimate American, and he became a national treasure.
While Springsteen loves his country, his pride as an American means that he can't bring himself to stand idly by and not show his disgust at what the US government was doing in his name. The dual meaning of the album cover wasn't cottoned on by the masses. They didn't pick up on his nuanced takedown of the Reagan regime and, instead, read the song as a love letter.
The title track sparked the album cover's inspiration, and both have been misinterpreted over the years. Springsteen wrote the song from a place of anguish, a time when he was hugely disappointed and aggrieved about the issues Vietnam veterans encountered when they returned home after valiantly serving their country.
The Boss was adamant that veterans deserved a hero's welcome for putting their body on the line for the country when, in reality, the actuality was anything but. Vietnam was the first war the U.S. didn't emerge from victoriously and there was an unsettling feeling of trying to sweep it, and those veterans, under the carpet. Those who fought in Vietnam were treated like crap on America's shoe when they returned to their homeland. It disheartened Springsteen and put the need to speak his mind under the spotlight.
The album cover used this feeling to create a landmark shot. Taken by Rolling Stone photographer Annie Leibovitz, the image sees The Boss pictured wearing red, white and blue, before a backdrop of stars and stripes. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with an image that screamed America harder than the cover. The red cap hanging out the back pocket of his blue jeans shows that Springsteen is just like your average guy from Astbury Park, New Jersey.
Staggeringly, the cover was interpreted by many in the opposite way to the title track. Listeners misread the track as a love letter to the regime, and the people who picked up on the song's true meaning assumed that Springsteen was relieving himself on the flag on the cover, but it wasn't that deep.
Rolling Stone probed Springsteen in 1984 and the singer pleaded his innocence on this front. "No, no. That was unintentional," he maintained. "We took a lot of different types of pictures, and in the end, the picture of my ass looked better than the picture of my face, so that's what went on the cover. I didn't have any secret message. I don't do that very much."
Weekend Update: Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama on Their Podcast Renegades
Bruce Springsteen (Beck Bennett) and former President Barack Obama (Chris Redd) stop by Weekend Update to discuss their friendship and their new podcast Renegades.
Bruce Springsteen, Marie Kondo, and the power of subtraction
Leidy Klotz and his 3-year-old son, Ezra, were building a bridge out of Legos when they ran into a little engineering trouble: One support tower was taller than the other, making it difficult to build a span in between.
Klotz turned around to grab a block to add to the shorter tower, but his son took a different approach: He pulled a block out of the taller tower.
A clever solution, and a pretty simple one, too. So why hadn't Klotz — Klotz, of all people — thought of it?
A University of Virginia professor with appointments in the schools of engineering, architecture, and business, he has long been fascinated by the idea of less.
As a teenager mowing grass for a little summer cash, he wondered why we needed so many lawns when they only seemed to get used when he was cutting them. And as an adult, an abiding concern for the environment meant he was always thinking about how we get to less — less waste, less pollution.
But watching his son pluck the Lego from the tower that day, he had an epiphany: Less is just an end state. Subtraction is the act of getting there.
And most of us, he'd come to understand, don't think of subtraction when we have a problem to solve. If we want to build a bridge, improve an essay, or make a better soup — it's more blocks, more words, more ingredients.
Sometimes, Klotz says, adding is the right answer. But in his new book, "Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less," he asks readers to consider the power of subtraction, too — in the stripped-down beauty of Bruce Springsteen's landmark album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," in the redesign of downtown Lexington, Ky., and in the existential fight against climate change.
Ideas recently spoke with Klotz via Zoom from his home in Charlottesville, Va. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
'SNL' Weekend Update Covers Latest Matt Gaetz Sex Scandal Allegations - Rolling Stone
“Our Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is back in the news, but this time it’s good… just kidding, it’s still the sex stuff,” co-anchor Colin Jost said at the opening.
Amid the sex scandal, Gaetz still appeared as speaker at a Women for America First summit. “It was a nice change, to see women pay for an hour with Matt Gaetz,” Jost joked.
On the subject of Mitch McConnell’s statement that corporations should “stay out of politics” when it comes to Georgia’s restrictive voting bill, co-anchor Michael Che said, “Coincidentally, ‘stay out of politics’ is also Georgia’s new rule for black people.”
Bruce Springsteen (Beck Bennett) and Barack Obama (Chris Redd) also dropped by to talk about their podcast Renegades , with the rocker and former president “riffing” about their favorite sodas and other mundanities:
Finally, the iceberg that sank the Titanic (Bowen Yang) also stopped in to talk about its new album and to give their take on ship accident ahead of the tragedy’s 110th anniversary:
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